Trophies and Trailers: July 31- August 5

Motorsport.com staff

Motorsport.com editors and writers watch nearly every lap of competition from around the world every weekend, and will highlight what we feel are the top moments of the weekend – along with some of the brain fades that are just as prevalent in auto racing.

We hope you enjoy the fifth installment of Trophies and Trailers

Trophies to Courtney Force for scoring her first career NHRA victory, coming from the 14th qualifying spot to earn the win – beating reigning Funny Car champion Matt Hagan in the final

Courtney Force

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

Trailers to the five-second delay in the push-to-pass mechanism introduced by Indy Car to try and keep drivers from turning it into a Push-To-Not-Be-Passed button. Shrugged off by teams and drivers as inconsequential before the race, it was panned by drivers after the race who hadn’t had enough time to practice with it.

Trophies to John Force for his genuine and unbridled display of joy when his daughter Courtney won Sunday’s NHRA event. An ESPN reporter remarked that Force was ‘vibrating’ with energy after Courtney continued winning and anyone that watched the interview would have to agree.

It was no holds barred at Mid-Ohio yesterday

Photo by: Michael C. Johnson

Trophies to the IZOD Indy Car Series drivers for putting on another caution-free race – the first back-to-back, caution-free races in Indy Car since 1987! The drivers ran hard, put on a good show and went side-by-side, but never crossed the line.

Trailers to Tony Schumacher for red lighting in his second round NHRA match. OK, it’s not an egregious error and The Sarge has earned a pass for his first red light in 12 years, but we rarely get to pick on the best Top Fuel driver on the planet...

Trophies to the NHRA for establishing a diversity among its top drivers that is the envy of every NASCAR and Indy Car executive. Shirley Muldowney lit the fuse all those years ago, but NHRA has continued to provide opportunities to anyone. Shows what you can do with a committed and well-thought out ladder system….

Sebastien Bourdais celebrating his last open-wheel win with the legendary Paul Newman

Photo by: Adriano Manocchia

Trailers to the fact that we can not and will not celebrate the fifth consecutive American Le Mans Series victory for Greg Pickett’s Muscle Milk prototype team. They beat a consistently underperforming Dyson team and that’s it. Beating two cars just isn’t enough to get us excited.

Trophies to Elliott Sadler for bouncing back from getting robbed by the stewards at Indy to take the NASCAR Nationwide Series victory this weekend at Iowa.

Trophies to Sebastien Bourdais for his fourth-place run at Mid-Ohio. Unbelievable that his fourth-place run was his best since his win in Mexico City in 2007.